The news is being seen as a positive to come out of the pandemic
At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, hospitals across the country had to limit the number of visitors.
That meant that birthing partners were only permitted to come in during labour and were not allowed to stay afterwards, with no other visitors allowed.
But BHRUT, which runs Queen’s Hospital, says that led to a community feel among new mums who were bonding a lot more than usual.
“We started to notice during the pandemic that more of the curtains were pulled back, while they were previously often closed during family visits,” said Angeline Brafi, ward manager on the Postnatal ward. “I saw that lots of the mums were breastfeeding more freely.
Angeline Brafi, the manager of the post-natal ward at Queen’s Hospital (credit: BHRUT)
“We’ve seen that, without other patients’ partners around, women aren’t embarrassed to start breastfeeding. And the community they’ve built up means they talk to each other about it and give each other support and advice.
“It’s been lovely to see them encouraging each other, and for something positive to come during the pandemic.”
The trust’s Infant Feeding team has also been more in demand to offer support to new mums.
Angeline, a mum-of-three herself who started her career at BHRUT in 2001, has also been pleased to see the community feel has extended beyond the hospital.
“Some of the mums have been sharing details so they can keep in touch and even meet up with their babies, safely of course!” she added. “We didn’t see that before. I really hope this continues and, even though we’ve started to reintroduce visiting, this is at set times so mums still have plenty of time to themselves.”
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Tags: BHRUT, Queen's Hospital
